"Cold Tangerines" by Shauna Niequist {A Reflection/Thank You of Sorts}

It was in every way like going to a therapist for free to me.  It was reading shards, & remnants, & icebergs from my own story till it hurt.  And then felt like inching, & sometimes 50-yard-dashing, to a place where healing could flourish like kudzu.

I flagged pages that especially resonated with tiny neon florescent tabs like a sincere, over-zealous college student, & let it reside on my coffee table so I could see it often.  I can't tell you the times I cried great big tears, or laughed out loud great big laughs, or stopped mid-sentence to pray great big prayers, because they were too numerous to count.

But I do know I am thankful to God that He made such authors & thankful to the author that she wrote so bravely, so transparently, that us readers could see her true, broken-pieces-full-of-redemption self, & feel we were okay in our most tattered parts, because we were the same & there arises such a kinship & kindred-spirit-ness in knowing we are all broke & even though it doesn't feel okay or good, God calls us beautiful even then.  And there is still so much seen & unseen worth celebrating in the biggest possible way.  So, thank you to all involved.  This book has awoken a long-asleep hope & possibility in my life & I am so grateful... & ready to celebrate in what constantly feels like the interim, maybe because it is {so I've learned}, so I celebrate all the harder.

Love,
-Bess-

P.S.: Find it here...